PACHU MENON
Ah, what a relief!” So went the newspaper headlines welcoming the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by the Union Finance Minister on Friday.
Announcing a host of welfare schemes for the poor farmers, those in the unorganized sectors, and income tax sops for the middle class, the budget benefactions for the aam aadmi has been loud and clear.
But, with a distinct thrust on his immediate needs and comforts, one wonders why the common man suddenly comes into reckoning in the year of elections! Not the least tired by their magniloquence on the subject, politicians continue to unfalteringly raise concerns about the aam aadmi. Rather than intone the popular mantra of the aam aadmi’s wants and needs when in a quandary over matters that are unpopular but appealing to their interests, elected representatives and administrators shy away from ground-zero realities and shun any attempt to garner first-hand experience of the pain and suffering of the poorest and weakest.
Take for instance the proposal by the Power Minister to offset the streetlight maintenance cost in the state by charging consumers something called ‘Public Lightning Duty’ on domestic and commercial connections.
At a time when the state, reeling under the ill effects of mining excesses and faulty tourism initiatives, has only been bringing the locals much anguish over their miserable condition thrust upon them, we have the government burdening the people further with unjustified hikes in utility charges. One can readily recollect the ‘cheaper petrol’ gimmick that won admiration for the last BJP-government in the state, not a bit for alleviating the problems of the common man, but for fulfilling pre-poll promises made to the Goans.
While food-grains and other house-hold commodities at subsidized rates would have been more appropriate considering the rising price index then, the local aam aadmi was happier residing in a state which offered petrol at the cheapest price in the whole country!
Propping up the aam aadmi as that deprived class of people deserving their optimum attention, politicians cutting across party lines are exuberant about the grand plans envisaged for them. However, it has never been that easy for the common man to avail the benefits of the grandiose schemes announced by the government in all magnanimity “ even as election time bonanzas!
Moreover this notion of the common man as being one who has always fought for his existence on the periphery of the elite society needs to be dumped at the earliest. The aam aadmi does not purport to be a symbol of pity!
The idea of a common man is purely the creation of political minds to be used exclusively to further the interests of the political class. But in effect, every aam aadmi, helpless against the machinations of the political establishment, continues to fight for his basic needs and rights. As a vital cog in the development of the nation, the aam aadmi is however the one overlooked when it comes to ‘sharing the spoils’, so to speak. Almost always, it is the common man who finds himself pushed into the depths of anonymity while those who seemingly play a significant role in engaging themselves on the matter of their upliftment are seen receiving kudos for their noble thoughts!
The political fraternity has never been short of ideas when it comes to electoral survival and the aam aadmi initiative has come as that masterstroke which has ably assisted it in its endeavours as well.
The aam aadmi perception has to do more with the political philosophy that has had various parties coining a new phrase to suit their political agenda that gives a preposterous manifestation of being people-centered. By virtue of being in power, it would imply that the political bosses are from the elite class, with the masses reduced to being mere pedestrians, the common class.
Just as a Ram Rajya is wishful thinking in present times considering that Lord Rama’s legacy continues to enrich the farcical perceptions of the politicians more than it does the faith of the people; the notion of the aam aadmi also conjures up similar thoughts.
Moreover, with the aam aadmi inadvertently falling victim to the trickle-down effects of large-scale scams and incidents of corruption that characterizes the higher echelons of power manifesting themselves in inflation and a host of other socio-economic malaises, how secure has the common man been in the order of things in as far as the priorities of the political class is considered!
Things have to change! The concept of a common man needs to evolve. One is flabbergasted at the notion of classifying people as the privileged and the deprived.
By virtue of being a democracy it is we who have the right to decide about representation in government. Why should this right be exploited by vested interests to create the common and elite classes? In short, why should some be khaas aadmis while others continue languishing as aam aadmis?
In actuality, there are only two classes in India “ the poor and the rich! The other classes are merely the bracketing of the sub-groups in the economic order.
As one will not feign ignorance about the middle class which is very much a part of the socio-economic hierarchy in the country, likewise the mention of a common man should not draw up conjunctures of anything more than a quintessential Indian.
However, the subservient attitude that has exemplified the Indian-psyche has resulted in the typical situation where the common man has taken everything lying down. Or, for that matter, the political establishment has taken the aam aadmi for granted!
It was only once, in recent times that is; fed-up with the establishment and desperate to bring about a long lasting-change, the aam aadmi dared to raise his voice substantially to be heard in the right places. The AAP was born out of a frustration that the common man experienced at being marginalized in Indian politics. It is a different story altogether that these efforts too did not bear much fruit either and the aam aadmi is once again disillusioned with the whole exercise. It is time Indian politics moved away from such self-serving considerations and thought of governance as a more inclusive affair.
But will an average Indian ever be able to shed the sobriquet of a ‘common man’ that has been heaped upon him? At times one gets the feeling that he has come to relish the nickname and wouldn’t mind assuming the countenance, the striking physiognomy that has come to label all countrymen save the political leaders in the country.
Hail the ilk of the common man!
